The unofficial, updated THIRD EDITION of the Magic Realm Rules

The unofficial, updated THIRD EDITION of the

Magic Realm Rules

Welcome to the MAGIC REALM. MAGIC REALM is a game of fantasy adventuring, set

in a land filled with monsters, fabulous treasures, great warriors and magicians. The scene is set in the ruins of a mighty kingdom, now inhabited by sparse groups of natives and swarms of monsters. Beneath it all are the rich remnants of a magical civilization, scattered and lost across the map.

To this scene come the adventurers, seekers of riches and fame, to make a name for themselves in this promising field. Swordsman and Dwarf, Magician and Sorceror, the humans and the half-humans come seeking to loot the legendary riches of a lost civilization. Now you can play the part of one of these adventurers, stepping into an unknown Realm of magic and monsters, battles and treasures.

As a player, you will take on the role of one of the sixteen major characters who are represented in detail in the game. You will control where he goes, what he tries to do, how he handles himself in combat and much more. In the course of the game you will run into deadly monsters, tribes of humans ranging from old friends to sworn enemies, and treasures that will enhance your abilities in many ways.

MAGIC REALM is a complex game designed to

recapture the suspense and desperate struggles of fantasy literature. The game creates a small but complete fantasy world, where each game is a new adventure with a new map where everything lies hidden at new locations. The game includes many more playing pieces than are actually used in a single playing. The additional pieces are set up and can appear, depending on the directions in which the characters explore, but many of the treasure troves, treasures and spells will still be set up, unfound, when the game ends, and many of the monsters and natives might never be met. The result is an extremely unpredictable game full of surprises, a game that plays very differently each time it is played.

The complete game system includes hiking, hiding and searching, fatigue, wounds, rest, trade, hiring natives and combat between characters, monsters, and natives using a variety of weapons on horseback and afoot, as well as many magical effects.

Between exploring a new land where the mountains, caves, valleys, and woods change every game, and not knowing what you will find in each place, you will find each game a new and unpredictable adventure, filled with surprises. You will find this like no other board game you have ever played.

And now, into the MAGIC REALM.

Release 3.1: 12/9/05

TABLE OF CONTENTS Page

COVER PAGE

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

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HEX TILES DIAGRAM

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1.0 INTRODUCTION TO THE THIRD EDITION RULES

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1.1 PURPOSE OF THE THIRD EDITION RULES

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1.2 ORGANIZATION OF THE RULES

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1.3 ADVICE TO BEGINNERS

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1.4 GAME SUMMARY

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1.5 WHERE TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT MAGIC REALM

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1.6 DEFINITIONS

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2.0 A GUIDE TO THE PLAYING PIECES

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2.1 THE MAP

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2.2 DENIZENS

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2.3 BELONGINGS AND SPELL CARDS

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2.4 THE TREASURE SETUP CARD

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2.5 CHARACTER PIECES

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2.6 PERSONAL HISTORY PAD

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2.7 GAME PIECE ERRATA

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3.0 PREPARE FOR PLAY

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3.1 SETTING UP THE TREASURE SETUP CARD

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3.2 CONSTRUCTING THE MAP

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3.3 SELECTING CHARACTERS.

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3.4 PLACING VISITOR/MISSION CHITS

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3.5 PLACING MAP CHITS

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3.6 REVEALING DWELLINGS

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4.0 GAME MECHANICS

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4.1 ROLLING DICE

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4.2 ACTION CHITS

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4.3 BELONGINGS

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4.4 TREASURE CARDS

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4.5 SHARING INFORMATION AND SPYING

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4.6 MAGIC

25

5.0 TURN SUMMARY

31

5.1 DAILY SEQUENCE OF PLAY

31

5.2 RESOLVING COMBAT IN A CLEARING

32

5.3 A ROUND OF COMBAT

32

6.0 BEGINNING A NEW DAY

33

6.1 DAY ADVANCEMENT

33

6.2 BIRDSONG

33

6.3 SUNRISE

34

7.0 DAYLIGHT

36

7.1 DETERMINING TURN ORDER

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7.2 BEGINNING OF A PHASE

36

7.3 THE MOVE ACTIVITY

37

7.4 THE HIDE ACTIVITY

40

7.5 THE SEARCH ACTIVITY (Including Enhanced Peer Activity)

40

7.6 THE TRADE ACTIVITY

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7.7 THE HIRE ACTIVITY

44

7.8 THE REST ACTIVITY

46

7.9 THE ALERT ACTIVITY

47

7.10 THE ENCHANT ACTIVITY (formerly the Spell Activity)

47

7.11 THE FOLLOW ACTIVITY

48

7.12 END OF PHASE ? BLOCKING

49

7.13 END OF TURN ? PROWLING DENIZENS

49

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8.0 EVENING

53

8.1 SUNSET AND START OF EVENING

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8.2 BATTLING NATIVES

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8.3 ENCOUNTER STEP

54

8.4 MELEE STEP

57

8.5 FATIGUE AND WOUNDS

68

8.6 DISENGAGEMENT

70

8.7 SPOILS OF COMBAT

70

8.8 ENDING COMBAT IN A CLEARING

71

8.9 MIDNIGHT

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9.0 ENDING THE GAME

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9.1 CHARACTER DEATHS AND RESTARTS

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9.2 QUITTING THE GAME

72

9.3 WINNING THE GAME AND SCORING

72

10. ADVANCED AND OPTIONAL RULES

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A. EXTENDED CHARACTER CAPABILITES

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1. SERIOUS WOUNDS

74

2. AMBUSHES

74

3. FLYING ACTIVITIES

74

4. CACHING (The Optional Cache Activity)

74

5. DROPPING (AND LOSING) BELONGINGS

75

6. OPTIONAL ABILITIES

75

B. DENIZEN OPTIONAL RULES

76

1. QUIET MONSTERS

76

2. ALERTED MONSTERS

76

3. DRAGON HEADS

76

4. WATCHFUL NATIVES

76

5. EXTENDED TREACHERY

77

6. GRUDGES AND GRATITUDE

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7. EXTENDED GRUDGES AND GRATITUDE

77

C. ADVANCED MAGIC RULES

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1. ENHANCED MAGIC

78

2. BENEVOLENT SPELLS

78

3. ENHANCED ARTIFACTS AND SPELL BOOKS

78

4. POWER OF THE PIT

78

5. AUTOMATIC ENCHANTING

78

D. EXTENDED GAME SYSTEMS

80

1. SEASONS AND WEATHER

80

2. COMMERCE

82

3. OPTIONAL COMBAT RULES

83

E. EXPANDING THE REALM

85

1. SOLITAIRE PLAY

85

2. CHANGING THE GAME TIME

85

3. SUDDEN DEATH GAME

85

4. MULTIPLE CHARACTERS

86

5. DEVELOPMENT

86

6. EXTENDED DEVELOPMENT

87

7. COMBINING REALMS

87

INDEX

89

LISTS AND TABLES

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1.0 INTRODUCTION TO THE THIRD EDITION RULES

1.1 PURPOSE OF THE THIRD EDITION RULES

The Third Edition Rules are the product of long-time Magic Realm players who came to the conclusion that a new rulebook is necessary for the true elegance of Magic Realm to emerge from the existing rules. While "unofficial" in the sense that they are not a product of the Avalon Hill Company, the Magic Realm publisher (now out of business), these rules are the product of over 50 collective years of experience with the game and represent the most complete interpretation of the game that we can muster. We have been assisted in this effort by extensive discussions and comments from the Magic Realm designer, Richard Hamblen, and by the collected wisdom of the on-line Magic Realm community. We welcome you to use these rules at your pleasure, to reproduce, and freely distribute them, as long as they are not sold and no charge is made for their use.

Unlike the Second Edition Rules, which made major changes to the First Edition Rules to rationalize and extend the play of Magic Realm, these Third Edition Rules reorganize and streamline the Second Edition Rules without making any significant rule changes. The Third Edition Rules are fully compatible with the full Second Edition Rules (with minor exceptions as noted), and players may use the Second Edition or the Third Edition interchangeably, depending on preference.

So, why then a new edition of the rulebook? First, following the footsteps of the First Edition rulebook, the Second Edition Rules were written as a number of "Encounters" of increasing complexity designed to let players learn the rules gradually, one Encounter at a time. While successful in separating out the basic rules (order of play, movement, hiding, trading, treasures) from the more difficult rules governing combat, hired natives, and magic, the Encounter structure left the rules covering many topics spread out over separate sections in the different Encounters. When referring to the rules on a topic in the Fourth Encounter it was often necessary to find and review sections in one or more of the first three Encounters. Moreover, the interaction of rules in the First Encounter with game features in the later Encounters was often not clear. In some cases rules in later Encounters superceded or modified the rules in earlier Encounters.

In the Third Edition Rules the Encounter structure is dropped. The rules are organized in order of the sequence of play, and rules from all the Encounters having to do with daylight activities or combat, for example, are collected together in the same section. The result, we hope, is a cleaner organization of rules for the whole game with greatly reduced redundancy. Beginning players can still play the early Encounters of the Second Edition Rules, or follow the suggestions below in the section "Advice to Beginners" to gradually increase the complexity of the game in stages using these Third Edition Rules.

The second major motivation of the Third Edition Rules is to fix some lingering holes in the Second Edition Rules. While, in

general, the Second Edition Rules have held up well over time, experience in play has identified some ambiguities and omissions that slipped through in considering all of the complex interactions that are possible in Magic Realm. In some cases, the interpretation of a particular rule can have important consequences in play. While such cases can always be decided by a friendly roll of the die, it is more satisfying to have an answer in the rules. We have tried to provide definitive answers within the structure of the rules to all the questions of play that have come to our attention. [Clarifications that are added to the Second Edition Rules are highlighted in blue text ? like this.]

Other issues that have been partially addressed in the Third Edition Rules are some troublesome issues of play balance and unrealistic or undesirable strategies that are allowed by the Second Edition rules. These issues are unlikely to come to the attention of the casual player, but the on-line Magic Realm community has developed great expertise in character tactics and game strategies. Some of these tactics and strategies are so powerful that, although allowed by the rules, they make the game too predictable and reduce the enjoyment even of the players employing them. The charm of Magic Realm is that anything can happen in any given game. When each game starts to resemble the next, it defeats the goal of the game.

While we were constrained from making any fundamental changes in the game system by our principle of maintaining compatibility with the Second Edition Rules, we have addressed these play-balance issues by including some new optional rules. Many of these rules are not new; they were intended to be included in the Second Edition but did not make the cut, or they are new optional rules that have been extensively play-tested by the on-line player's community. We have combined the original Advanced and Optional Rules and reorganized them into related topic areas that follow the format of the basic rules. All the Second Edition Advanced and Optional Rules are included, although it may take a few minutes to find the location of an optional rule with which you are familiar.

1.2 ORGANIZATION OF THE RULES

Sections 2, 3, and 4 bring together all the Second Edition rules related to game pieces, game set up, and game mechanics. General rules relating to treasures and magic are found here; discussions of specific treasures, items, spells, and wishes/curses are found in the Lists and Tables section. Section 5 is a detailed list of the sequence of play, suitable for reproducing as a doublesided reference sheet. The rest of the rules are organized in order of the Sequence of Play: Section 6 Birdsong and Sunrise, Section 7 Daylight activities, Section 8 Evening activities (including Combat), and Section 9 Ending the Game and scoring. Optional rules, organized by topic, follow the basic rules. The List and Tables sections has been expanded, and now contains all statistics for weapons, armor, horses, natives, monsters, and characters that are needed to play the game.

To reference a question on play, you can turn to the section of the game related to the event in question and find all the rules collected together. Alternatively, you can look up the subject in the Index, which lists the references to a topic in every stage of play. Because it contains all the details needed to play the game in full, the primary use of the Third Edition Rules is as a

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